Private sector investment crucial to Uganda’s energy transformation, says Minister

The minister of State for Energy, Okaasai Sidronius Opolot, has urged private sector players to increase investment in Uganda’s energy sector, saying government has created the foundation needed to support the country’s ambition of growing the economy tenfold to $500 billion by 2040.

Speaking at the Uganda Chamber of Energy and Minerals (UCEM) second Annual Energy Convention recently, Okaasai said Uganda’s economic transformation agenda will largely depend on the availability of reliable and affordable energy.

“Energy is not merely a sector in the transformation plan, it is the foundation on which every other pillar stands,” he said.

He said the country’s shift from an economy largely dependent on trading raw materials to one focused on value addition, industrialization and the knowledge economy requires significant investment in power infrastructure.

“By adding value to everything we produce, by industrializing and by intensifying our participation in the knowledge economy, the tenfold economy is within reach,” he said.

The minister noted that industries, agriculture, mining, transport and digital infrastructure will all require increased access to electricity to support growth.

“Agro-industrialisation needs power for irrigation, milling/ processing and cold chains. Manufacturing needs affordable and reliable electricity. Mineral value addition needs significant energy for smelters and refineries. E-mobility, the Standard Gauge Railway, and digital infrastructure all run on electrons,” he said.

Additionally, Okaasai highlighted the progress made in Uganda’s energy sector, saying the country’s electricity generation has grown from 60MW in 1986 to 2,098MW today, supported by projects including Karuma, Isimba, Kiira, Nalubaale and Bujagali power plants.

He said electricity access had reached 62 per cent of the population in 2025, while the national transmission network had expanded to 5,140 kilometres following the completion of major infrastructure projects.

UCEM Governing Council Chairperson Aggrey Ashaba said Uganda’s biggest challenge in the energy sector was no longer policy but bringing together investors, projects, regulators and skills providers under a common agenda.

“The binding constraint in our sector is no longer policy. Government has done the structural work progressive laws, capable institutions, a clear path to 52,000MW,” Ashaba said.

He said the purpose of the convention was to address the gap between available capital and investable projects.

“Capital sits in one room, projects in another, regulation in a third, and skills in a fourth. They rarely meet with a single agenda in front of them. That is the gap this Convention exists to close,” he said.

He noted that Uganda still needs more bankable projects, stronger project preparation capacity and domestic financial institutions equipped to assess energy sector risks.

“What is missing in this room is not ambition. Uganda has no shortage of ambition. What is scarce is bankable projects, project preparation capacity, and domestic banks equipped to appraise energy risk,” Ashaba said.

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